DAN watched the cliff fall away as the helicopter angled back to the station. It was strange to ride in there on the sling Jenkins manned as Trask controlled the rescue—strange to be the one wrapped in a blanket with Heber asking him questions and strange to see the cratered cliff where he and Karl almost died because of his brother.
He didn’t know yet how to feel about Axe falling down a rabbit hole so deep and twisted that drugs and a smokescreen of sabotage seemed viable options. The hardest part was that he wasn’t really surprised. In the years after Axe left and Dan found his own way, he’d seen more than one glimpse of how different they were becoming—how, after the impossibly tight connection they had growing up as each other’s only support and company, they didn’t have anything in common once the cocoon split open.
Maybe he never knew Axe. Dan was young enough not to know better if Axe got into things when they were kids. Or maybe he’d known all along and just didn’t want to admit it.
“Hey, kid,” Karl whispered and slipped an arm around him.
As a term of affection, “Hey kid” was pretty crap, but coming from Karl, it sounded like everything. Dan let Karl read his confusion and hurt. He gave a wan but genuine smile, and Karl accepted it with a nod.
He leaned against Karl and closed his eyes to the water rocking under them and the violent clouds breaking open over the north cove. All through the rescue, Karl stayed close, and Dan was glad. It was also strange to almost die in a place and know you’d always regard it as sacred because of what else happened there.
When they landed he ran for the station. Staying to help would only put him in the team’s way on a normal day, and he could hardly think straight. Karl had a hand on the small of his back and left it there, and the rain caught them right before they slipped inside.
Gent stood in the lobby, and with Curtis and Jameson, swarmed them into medical. He answered all the questions and submitted to all the tests, held an ice pack to the knot at his hairline that he hadn’t felt until just then, and kept an eye on Karl, who was seated on the exam bed opposite his.
“Neither of you concussed, which, hello miracle. But you’re each going to have a nasty headache here soon.” Gent doled out several pills.
Karl swallowed his dry, and Dan was grateful for the sports drink Gent offered.
“I have medicated soap I want you to shower with.” Gent gave them a pump bottle filled with thick liquid the color of rust. “It’s going to sting in all the little cuts you have, but that’s better than infection. Otherwise, ice packs and rest, and I want another look at you tomorrow.”
Thunder cracked hard enough to rattle the station.
“Whew. You guys were just in time,” Trask said from the door.
“I’d say you guys were. Thanks.” Karl held out a hand, and Trask came over. They gave each other a half hug.
“Just doing our job. And we had an advantage. We were already there when things went fubar.” Trask’s smile faded, and he cuffed Karl. “We weren’t sure there for a hairy too long after seeing the collapse. Really glad we pulled you out in one piece and not a bag. Man. After watching that? I’d have taken unconscious and rushed to the hospital, but this? This is good.”
“Real good.” Karl’s jaw tightened, and Dan could read all the suppressed emotion he held in check.
Dan offered his hand next. “Huge thanks. We mean it.”
Trask glanced at Karl and quirked a smile at him. “I know.”
The others poked their faces in to check on them, and they waved. The boat crew looked in, a few at a time, including King.
“Radin. Thank God you have such a hard head.” Curtis stopped in front of Karl and had a good look at him. “Didn’t take too bad of a knock, did you?”
“I should live.” Karl’s eyebrows pushed together in a pensive frown. “What happened out there?”
“We were hoping you two could tell us. Jameson has worked to track down that so-called Jim fellow, but so far no joy. And we never did find any kids. I’m honestly relieved about that but pissed about the rest. One minute Ogden is keeping us informed of your progress on the cliff, and the next, all hell breaks loose.” Curtis swiveled and checked Dan over. “Farnsworth, how are you?”
“Oh, gonna make it, sir.” Dan tried to stand, but Curtis stayed him.
“Take it easy. I don’t need a full debrief out of either of you yet. This is more important, especially if you’re going to make a lick of sense when we do get to it. First thing tomorrow. But in the meantime, since I have to go over both crews’ version of events and deal with local officials who are wondering why some of our dear state crumbled into the ocean on our watch, I’m ordering you both to sit tight and let Heber finish. Then you’re done for the day. Hear me, Radin?”
Karl grunted.
Curtis squeezed Dan’s shoulder and then Karl’s. He wasn’t long-winded or demonstrative, but his long pause and tight nod at each of them spoke volumes. Then he turned on his heel and marched out.
Gent stepped in. “All right. You’re good for the moment. Shower, hydrate, rest. And don’t think I won’t hunt you down if you avoid me in the morning.” He helped them both up and moved them along. “Now get out before you fall asleep on me.”
Dan yawned through their thank-yous and they all shuffled into the lobby. Lang and Scobey stood in their path and Bennett, Marcum, and Yaz were just to the side.
“Where’s my gear?” Dan asked no one in particular.
“It’s taken care of. Don’t worry.” Scobey gave him a quick hug and made room for Lang to follow. “You two look awful.”
“Sweet-talker,” Karl said, but he accepted her hug.
Dan didn’t know what else to say and neither did anyone else, and Scobey moved them along.
Yaz walked them to their room. “Need anything?”
“Sleep. Coffee. Probably best in that order.” Karl threw a towel at Dan, and Dan fumbled it. “Thanks, man.”
“I got you. Let me know if something comes up.”
Dan smiled at Yaz and didn’t think about it when Karl tucked him under an arm and guided him to the showers. He showered standing alongside Karl and hated that he was too beat-up and exhausted to appreciate the steamy heat and the muzzy comfort that enveloped him as Karl soaped him all over. He wasn’t fully aware of much after that.
He dried, knotted the towel at his waist, and got into the first thing he pulled from his dresser. The fleece pj’s were soft and amazing, and he didn’t bother with a shirt. Then he crawled into his bunk and shifted until his back hit the wall—because Karl climbed up after him.
Another strange thing that suddenly felt like how it was meant to be all along. He’d come to Alaska thinking he’d entered enemy territory, but instead he discovered how vital and good it was to be accepted as part of the station. Everyone had worked so hard to rescue him, and wanted to be sure he and Karl were really in one piece.
Karl got his blankets in order and tucked them in together.
“You okay? Get some sleep.”
Dan nodded and rubbed his cheek on Karl’s shoulder. His insides were bunched up like he needed to cry, and his muscles were on fire from the day’s abuse and exhaustion. Karl tightened his arms around him, and he exhaled and tried not to think about anything but Karl’s warmth and scent and safety. But morning—and all the truths they’d arrived at in the cave—would come harsh and soon enough.
Chapter Eleven
KARL woke to a raging storm and Dan drooling on his chest. He checked the time—just before six. The storm made it seem like the middle of the night—perfect cover for a getaway if you were cornered, desperate to escape, and had trained to handle such weather.
He hated the thought and how unerringly right it sounded. He also hated to ease out from under Dan without a word, but that’s exactly what he did.
Dan caught his sleeve as he slid from the bunk, and he stopped midway to the floor, one leg still on the bed and the other dangling over the side. He closed his eyes and rel
axed, and after several deep breaths, Dan’s grip loosened. Karl inched away, though he wanted to climb right back up and bundle Dan to him again.
He dressed quickly. There’d be no staying dry out there, so he went with manageable bulk, wicking layers, and waterproof boots. They were heavy, but that and a wool cap were his best protection from the cold.
“Don’t hate me, kid,” he whispered. Then he kissed his fingertips and pressed them to Dan’s forehead. When Dan frowned, he made a hasty retreat.
The station was bright. He wouldn’t get out of there unnoticed, but all the hubbub from yesterday provided a lot of distraction. The minutes ticked away as he downed power bars, hard-boiled eggs, and two sports drinks, but he hadn’t eaten enough the day before, and he would pay for it out there if he didn’t refuel.
“Ramirez,” he said as he breezed into the lobby.
“You’re up early. Why are you up at all?”
Light and voices spilled from the hall that led to Curtis’s office. Command clearly had its hands full tracking the weather.
Karl pointed a thumb at it. “Anything going yet?”
“We had a glacier-seeking tourist yacht that I thought was going to go under, but the captain listened to Jameson’s navigation advice and pulled out of it.”
“There’s no glaciers around here. Tourists.” He tutted, and they shared a look. “It’s really howling. What’s the forecast?”
“Yeah, this one’s nasty. The pyrotechnics have slowed down, but it’s generating record rainfall in some areas. It ground to a halt and settled in just after you and Worth got plucked off the cliffs, and it’s been punishing the cove ever since. But there’s a strong warm front coming up from the southeast, so it’ll probably get pushed back out to sea by midday. That’s been NOAA’s steady forecast for hours now, and we’re in agreement, so I think it’ll prove out.”
Karl shifted position to see the radar screens. There was nothing but the looming mass of the storm on the local map, but the regional and satellite data clearly showed the spearpoint of the front that Ramirez mentioned. Another few hours, and it would be spent, so if Axe planned to bolt under cover, he had only that much time.
“You’re usually correct about these things.” With Ramirez’s guard down Karl went right into his next feint. “You hear anything about my ATV? I rode it to Qaqa yesterday, but I don’t know what happened with it.”
“Check outside. Yaz and Marcum went after it. Parked it at the hangar.” Ramirez looked him up and down. “Were you going to go get it?”
“Never know. She was expensive, and I like her.” Karl kept moving. “Thanks.”
The wind tried to knock him flat, so he turned his shoulder to it. It whipped around him as he made his way to the hangar, and rain puddled the oversaturated ground and fell in dense sheets and hail that stung his cheeks. Dan’s warm bed with Dan in it held so much appeal it was almost enough to pull him back inside, but at the thought of Axe getting away—away with all of it? His protective anger flared, and he used it to drive himself on.
His ATV was parked under a low shelter attached to the hangar, and that kept it dry. Yaz had left the key in it, like he always did, and it started right up. He gunned the engine and circled the back of the station acreage. To avoid getting bogged down in muck, he stuck to the higher ridges and exposed bedrock.
If he took the Jeep, he could turn a damn heater on and not get pelted by rain so cold it was turning to ice, but if he did, he’d have to use the upper road to the docks. On the ATV he could take the shoreline trail right to Axe’s boat.
Uncharacteristic impatience gnawed at him, and he wanted to gun it, but he channeled into rescue-duty mode and began the hunt with steely precision. Visibility was terrible, and the trail unreliable, so his progress was slow and methodical. A few times the steering jostled hard enough to almost wrench from his grip, but he knew how to ride it out and maintain control. No way would he wind up in the drink before he hunted Axe down.
He had a vague plan in mind—get to the boat, make sure it was there, get on it, and wait. If the boat was gone, he would backtrack to the station and make his way to Faithstone Lumber and find out where Grady went. If that gave him no leads, he’d admit temporary defeat and tell Dan it was time they explained everything to Curtis.
The trail climbed from the water, and he gained the wider strip that led to the docks. Karl rode to where the wooden planking began, secured his ATV at the first set of stairs, and walked the remaining distance. The rain and sporadic thunder would probably camouflage the engine noise and low-beam headlights, but he didn’t want to chance it.
Axe’s boat was in, bobbing wildly in the pounding surf. Karl’s pulse surged with adrenaline and relief. He hunkered down and darted from boulders to posts to screen his approach. He never took his eyes from the deck, but no one seemed to be aboard.
The boat heaved up and down and he had to stand alongside, more exposed than he wanted, to time his jump to the deck. His landing wasn’t pretty, and his aching ribs and head protested, but he gritted his teeth and rolled onto all fours.
Okay so, first part of his plan done. Second part was to wait. He had the unshakable feeling it wouldn’t be long.
DAN couldn’t ignore the persistent buzz of his phone. He pushed onto his hands, slithered from bed, and answered without really waking up.
“The check was denied.”
Dan dropped into his desk chair and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. He made a noise that maybe was a response.
“The death-benefits check Axe worked so hard to make sure was paid to your dead mother. It’s on hold at the bank and pinging all sorts of red flags.”
Dan muttered something and stood back up. Where was Karl?
“That took me a while to track down and verify. I called to leave you a message because it’s too much to text.” Ridge paused. “I woke you up, didn’t I? Sorry not sorry.”
“Too late for that. What time is it?”
“Too early to check your watch?”
“Actually, yes.” Dan lifted the blankets on his bed as though Karl could somehow be hiding among them. “So, what? Axe thought he could make a paper shell of Mom, collect her benefits, and disappear?”
“Almost seven your time. And yeah. Seems that way. I mean, easy enough to do at the start—paperwork just sits collecting dust until someone actually has to pay out on it.” Ridge listened to Dan’s tense silence as he opened the closet, peered into the hall, and then cataloged everything of Karl’s that was missing. “Dano, are you okay?”
“No. But let’s start with what you’re telling me, and I’ll go from there. Now, what about this check?”
“When Axe was officially pronounced lost at sea, his death benefit was triggered and went to your mother, listed as Axe’s next of kin and recipient. It was only a year ago that he changed it. You were his next of kin until then. Someone showed up to the post box store, got it, and deposited it in a national bank. But something about it didn’t pass the smell test—probably the fact that your mother is dead, and her deactivated social will prove that—but some uppers got onto it before the bank rejected it. Axe just knows it isn’t good, and the sharks have started circling.”
“So, one way or another, Axe faking his death was gonna catch up to him, and he knew it. And without the cushion of money he expected to get.” Dan was past needing to grieve for his mother and wanting to cry over what Axe had become, but it was still hard to hear.
“And you know those wheels don’t turn quickly with these things.”
“Right. He left here, thinking all he had to do was bide his time until the payout, and then he’d run to Mexico or whatever.”
Ridge made an agreeing noise. “That caused the timing of the would-be payout and your transfer to line up closer than if he could have just cut and run.” Dan lifted the shirt Karl had worn to bed and inhaled. Talking to Ridge helped distract and keep him moving, but he was close to freaking out.
“I wondered why he’
d risk showing his supposedly dead face in Alaska, and that sounds like my answer. He has to be beyond desperate to try that, and since it naturally didn’t work, it spurred him back up here to make a grab for whatever he could get for the meth. At least knowing that last puzzle piece makes me feel like Axe is alive instead of me guessing.”
“Since the time of his supposed death, I haven’t found any record of him anywhere.”
“And how would you do that? It’s not like he’d use his real name.” Dan sighed and waved a hand in the air. “You know what, never mind. Don’t tell me—you wouldn’t anyway.”
“True. But I did get the box of Axe’s personal effects secured, and I can pass it along. Do you want it?”
Dan didn’t have to think about it. “No. I appreciate that you ran it down, but I have no interest in it. By all means go through it if you want, but there’s nothing in it I need. Just… get rid of it.”
“Can do. Anything else?”
“Tell me that Karl didn’t leave me in bed to go out in this storm to find Axe. And tell me you can find him on some super-secret satellite now that I have to go out there after him.”
“Uh.” Ridge snickered. “Did you mean to just give that much away?”
Dan thunked his head on his bunk post and closed his eyes. “Yeah, sure didn’t.”
“I’m good at forgetting things.”
He gave it serious consideration. “You don’t have to forget this one. I don’t mind.” Dan walked to his dresser and grabbed socks and several layers. “But you do have to bail me out of jail and set me up with a new identity on Malta or something if I wind up killing him for being an idiot and going and doing this alone.”
“Malta? Obscure choice.”
“Or Gozo, I’m not picky.”
“Even more obscure. Touché.” Ridge waited a beat. “If you’re not okay after all this, I’m here. Got it?”
Staggered Cove Station Page 15